By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Rating
- 4(1,067)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This is inspired by both the classic Greek soup avgolemono and Scottish cockaleekee. Start with a flavorful chicken or turkey broth, simmer leeks and rice or bulgur in the soup until tender, then enrich with eggs and lemon. The trick here is to begin with a flavorful stock and not to allow the eggs to curdle when you combine the soup and the avgolemono sauce. You can make a vegetarian version of this using a garlic broth or by making a robust vegetable stock using the dark leafy parts of the leeks.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 2quarts chicken or turkey stock, preferably homemade
- 1pound leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned and sliced thin
- ⅔cup rice or coarse bulgur (to taste)
- 4large eggs, at room temperature
- Fresh juice of 2 lemons, strained, or about 6 to 8 tablespoons, to taste
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground pepper
- Chopped fresh parsley or dill for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
276 calories; 8 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 16 grams protein; 1113 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Combine the stock and leeks, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add the rice or bulgur, and continue to simmer until the grain is cooked through, 15 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust salt.
Step
2
Beat together the eggs and lemon juice until frothy in a medium bowl.
Step
3
Just before serving, making sure that the broth isn’t boiling, gradually add 2 cups to the egg and lemon mixture while beating vigorously with a whisk to prevent the eggs from curdling. Turn off the heat under the soup, pour the egg-lemon mixture into the soup, stir well and serve, adding a bit of pepper to each bowl and garnishing with chopped fresh parsley or dill.
Tip
- Advance preparation: You can make this soup through Step 1 several hours before serving, but the grain will continue to absorb liquid; if you do make it ahead, use ½ cup instead of ⅔ cup.
Ratings
4
out of 5
1,067
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Cooking Notes
Kristin
This is delicious and simple. I added cooked, shredded chicken to make it a meal.
Hannah
Delish but I should have added way less rice than this recipe suggested. It turned into a very tasty faux risotto, but I would have preferred soup! If I make it again, I'll use half broth, half water and add white wine.
Natasha
Juice of two lemons much too much — even 1.5 juicy ones overwhelmed the flavor of everything else. Would do with one next time and serve with wedges for people who wanted a bit more.We used 1/2 cup of orzo - more or less the right amount and the texture was great.
Mike D in NC
I use Orzo instead of rice and I usually add some cubed chicken thighs but all in all this recipe makes a delicious, satisfying soup. Don't be afraid to mess with it though. Some Parsley or Tarragon, a bit more lemon or zest, a bit of garlic or minced, caramelized onion. There are as many variations as there are Greek cooks!
Nicole
This a great soup! I made a couple tweaks: sweat the leeks in a little butter for a few minutes, add some white wine before the broth, and throw in a parm rind . Amazing!
kccook
You pour two cups of the soup into the egg/lemon mixture while whisking, then turn off the heat under the remaining soup and pour the egg/lemon/soup mixture that you just whisked together into the soup. Hope this helps--it's done this way to prevent the eggs from curdling.
Liz
Delicious surprise. Used 1/4 cup of juice from lemons in our tree. Used a mix of veggie and chicken stock concentrate. No problems with curdling. The soup came out silky smooth with just the right amount of lemon.
Sarah
This was lovely. Sautéed the leaks with garlic for a few minutes to start. Used brown jasmine rice and added rotisserie chicken. Added lots of chopped parsley and dill at the end. Perfect for a cold night.
lblalock
Absolutely delicious and quick recipe. I used quinoa instead of rice, and it turned out great. As suggested, a few sprigs of dill pair great with soup!
Patricia
I have made this recipe several times and always get rave reviews from my sick buddies! Plan on making it again today,save some for me and deliver it to friends in need of a helping hand. Have lemons to be picked and used as well,win/win.
chengysmalls
2 lemons made the soup too sour. I’d start with 1 and see how it tastes. I also used barley because that’s what I had and it was still tasty. Had to add more water (and salt) because of the acid
hayley
I added onion, carrots, celery, shredded chicken thighs, orzo and dill in addition to what was written. Very very good!
Catina
Very good. Saute leeks with minced clove of garlic. Boneless skinless thighs. Used both dill and parsley and had some green tops from scallions left from breakfast - probably just dill next time. Used immersion blender to temper the eggs, and it worked perfectly
A&W cook
2.15.2024. Another delicious chicken soup! Used ~6 c. homemade broth, 2 c. frozen previously prep’ed leeks (wt. ~6 oz.), 1/2 c. Basmati rice, 3 T. lemon juice. Poached 2 chix thighs in broth first, shredded, salt/pepper added back ~1 while whisking egg/lemon. Just the right texture…the leeks melted into the broth. (Remaining chix for curry chix salad.)
Simon Greedwell
Big hit! Neither store I went to had leeks, so I subbed red onion, vidalia, fennel and garlic. Probably not exactly the same, but it was good. Definitely curdled the egg, so it looked disgusting!! Tasted great.
Emma Petrin
Added:- 1 small head of Napa cabbage - Parmesean rind - bulb of garlic - used 3/4 cup of orzo instead of rice Started off with sautéing leeks and cabbage with 2 cloves of garlic for about 2 min Added chicken broth, Parmesean rind, and bulb of garlic with stem cut offThe rest is to the recipe! Delicious!!
CC
Tasty. Added 3 small chicken cutlets. Use whole pack next time.
cynthia t
Made this once and it was pretty good with chicken added. made it again for thanksgiving lunch, without chicken and following the recipe. Not good! It was bitter and the lemon was too much. Will switch for another recipe but word to the wise, I would add the lemon to the soup so it cooks and dilutes a little more rather than the egg.
Doug R
Sweated the leaks in butter as someone suggested and use a small amount of orzo. Didn’t add back any of the chicken meat. Served with toasted baguette Gruyère sandwiches. Really wonderful.
Kate
Simmered one skin-on chicken thigh for 20 minutes with the leeks then removed it and took a bath with an aperitif (Carpano Antica vermouth, ice, lavender Epsom salts) while number four coarse bulgur simmered for 30 minutes. Stirred in a bunch of fresh radish greens I had on hand to wilt at the end while mixing up the lemon and egg. Served over Greek barley rusks with a bit of olive oil. Easy and excellent and approved of by Greek spouse. Avoglemono soups are always so great when you have a cold!
Kate
forgot to say, removed chicken skin when adding shredded chicken back in but kept it on while it cooked as it added yummy fat/flavor to store-bought chicken broth (the paste kind).
Caitlin
This recipe was so easy and delicious. Minimal prep and hands off cooking. I’ve never used egg to thicken a soup like this, and I’m so impressed with the results.
Drew P
Made a half portion and took advice from this thread to add 1 cup water to the stock and reduced rice to .25 cup. I liked it but next time would reduce the cook time with the leeks to half—they had practically dissolved by the end—and reduce the lemon.
mamasaurus
wonderful soup - my nephew is my biggest cook fan and I gave him a container after his basketball game and I got more raves - loved it
Ed
The recipe is flawed big time. It says to add 6-8 T (juice of two lemons) "to taste" First it's way too much lemon and I love lemon. Second, it calls to add the lemon to the raw egg well before it's in the soup. You can not taste it in the egg mixture to gauge if it's the right flavor. I believe it would be a good soup but try 1-2 T and add more later after it's in the soup if necesary.
ariane pevide
Used fregola and was great!Maybe would have used a bit less lemon - but just because of my taste.Great tip on how mixing the eggs so it doesnt curdle
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